Rickie Lambert to Crystal Palace: Alan Pardew admits defeat in bid to sign Liverpool striker during January transfer window

Pardew oversaw a 2-1 win over Tottenham in his first Premier League match in charge of Palace

Alan Pardew said he wants to bring in a striker but admitted it is unlikely to be Rickie Lambert as the new Crystal Palace manager basked in restoring “optimism” to the club.

Pardew won his first game back at his old ground Selhurst Park, an 80th-minute Jason Puncheon goal giving Palace a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. It brought a revival of the stadium’s famously raucous atmosphere, which Pardew believes can embolden his team.

“I think they needed that result, the fans,” he said. “They needed a lift and we managed to give them a victory. We will be coming to the next game with renewed optimism – it is optimism that has been the problem.”

Pardew also hopes to solve a goals problem by adding to his forward line, but admitted that Liverpool’s Lambert is an unlikely arrival despite Palace’s interest.

“We are kind of monitoring strikers,” he said. “My pool of strikers don’t have any problem with that. They know competition is coming in. [Glenn] Murray was terrific and I was really pleased with him; that is a boost for us but hopefully there will be a striker or two arriving.

“I had a conversation with Brendan [Rodgers about Lambert] but I don’t think Rickie is going anywhere. I think Rickie wants to stay there and try and win his position.”

Pardew deflected a question on Arsenal’s Yaya Sanogo, whom Palace want to bring in on loan, but acknowledged interest in Jermain Defoe. “I know Jermain from my West Ham days and I know what he can do,” he said. “It will be interesting to see if he comes on the market and if he pitches in. He will probably have a couple of choices, I should think.”

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen described Spurs’ defeat as “very stupid”. Mauricio Pochettino’s side led 1-0 through Harry Kane’s 49th-minute goal, only to cave in after a controversial Dwight Gayle penalty on 69 minutes drew Palace level.

Jason Puncheon celebrates scoring the winner against Spurs (Getty Images)

“There is no point winning against Chelsea and then losing here,” Vertonghen said. “We have been very stupid to drop these points. Once again we have failed to jump up to fourth place.”

Pochettino said his team had to show greater ruthlessness and develop consistency if they are to claim a place in the Premier League top four.

“In football you need to kill a game,” he said. “At 1-0, we need to go to try and score the second. We are nervous after we score, but I think the penalty was key because it changed the game.

“After seven games we had positive results. This was our eighth game and we lose. To stay in the top four you need to be consistent.”

Pochettino denied that Tottenham were becoming too reliant on Kane, whose goal was his sixth in their last six league games.

“We always need to have a good performance from the team but it is true that Harry in the last months, in the last games, has been an important player for us. But I think Tottenham as a team is not only one player,” Pochettino said.